REVISITING THE WEST // A FILM REVIEW OF "THE LEGEND OF MOLLY JOHNSON"
"The Drover's Wife" is an 1892 Australian short story telling the story of an Outback woman who was left along with her four children. It became a hit but sadly, like many pieces of the time, carries racist depictions of First Nations people and views the entire story through a very white lens. Filmmaker Leah Purcell revamps this story in THE LEGEND OF MOLLY JOHNSON, updating the depictions of indigenous characters and rewriting it as a feminist western. She first began adapting this as a play and a novel and has now moved the action to the screen, starring Leah Purcell herself in the starring role. Molly Johnson lives isolated from the rest of her nearby community. The closest town to her is Everton, but she chooses to stay away from this everyday society. He husband is constantly on the road, leaving her to raise her children in the depth of the desert. One day, a couple made up of Sgt. Nate Clintoff (Sam Reid) and his English wife Louisa (Jessica De Gouw) pass through and are drawn to Molly's fire, tired from the road and hoping for some food to help tide them over. Nate is on his way to Everton to take care of business and his wife is a champion of battered women's rights (that bit becomes a very important plot point).
She speaks of her husband with a warmth and romantic longing, but as the story goes along, we realize that story is simply that: a story, told to hide the darker truth. When Nate gets into town, he immediately is assigned a murder case and back in the Outback, Molly has gone into labor. Fortunately, a man named Yadaka (Rob Collins), an Aboriginal man on the run from the law, stumbles upon her and assists in delivering the baby. He shows her compassion and she returns the favor, feeding and clothing him. They form a bond that would be seen as "impossible" to the current racist society, not to mention that her husband Joe has been gone for a long... time. Once an officer is sent out to Molly's land to investigate his continued disappearance, a slew of violence begins, bringing the darkness that has floated above the story crashing down to earth.
There's a lot of storylines being told within The Legend of Molly Johnson, some working much better than others. The moments with Purcell and Collins work the very best, as both actors anchor their performances in a rooted truth, powering the moments around them. Their story also dips into the Australian history of the "Stolen Children" while the city storyline that follows Sgt. Nate and Louisa sometimes works, sometimes doesn't, though it does feature strong performances throughout. The cinematography by Mark Wareham is truly stunning, especially the sweeping shots of the Outback. With a running time of under two hours, it often feels a bit too overstuffed with all its trying to tell, and it could have been refined with a bit more clarity and possibly a longer running time. Still, it's not denying that Purcell is quite a talent and her triple duty here is an impressive feat, one that boldly brings a thrilling feminist character to live.
Note: This review was previously published on March 20th, 2021 as part of our SXSW 2021 coverage. It is now receiving a theatrical release and is reprinted for that express purpose.
GRADE: B
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY Leah Purcell STARRING Leah Purcell, Malachi Dower-Roberts, Rob Collins, Sam Reid, Jessica De Gouw IN SELECT THEATRES AND ON DIGITAL PLATFORMS FRIDAY AUGUST 19TH